Too much eye relief on 7x42 EDG (1 Viewer)

[safaridreaming]

Hi all

i’m considering a 7x42 and was wondering how ppl who own this find the eye relief? I believe its got 22mm eye relief. Just wondering if its too much?

I prefer to tuck the binoculars into my eye sockets and can do this comfortably with my EDG32’s and ELSV32’s. This also helps with fatigue for prolonged viewing.

Will i need to hold the binoculars a bit further out or are they still comfortable to view through? I appreciate that they are 6mm exit pupil but concerned about too much ER.

any thoughts / comments would be appreciated.

 

[mwhogue]

Hi all

i’m considering a 7x42 and was wondering how ppl who own this find the eye relief? I believe its got 22mm eye relief. Just wondering if its too much?

I prefer to tuck the binoculars into my eye sockets and can do this comfortably with my EDG32’s and ELSV32’s. This also helps with fatigue for prolonged viewing.

Will i need to hold the binoculars a bit further out or are they still comfortable to view through? I appreciate that they are 6mm exit pupil but concerned about too much ER.

any thoughts / comments would be appreciated.

I'm no expert but the 22 mm ER is not a problem for me unless/except to the extent it may contribute to the fact that careful adjustment of the eyecup setting and IPD is required to achieve best image without some blackouts . Not a big deal but does require a little more attention /experimentation than a number of others. But once properly set, the overall IQ is sublime for my taste and the most relaxed IMO. Another factor though, while often listed as identical, the AFOV of the EDG seems a little smaller than with the Leica 7x42 UV HD + and certainly smaller the the Zeiss FL. But again, it's worth the trade off for me.

Mike

 

[Nethero]

I have no experience with the EDG 7x42.

But I have MeoStar 7x50’s and 7x42’s on hand. The 7x42 has 20mm ER and the 7x50’s have 22mm ER.

I also stick the eyecups into my eye-sockets as you do.

The 7x42 at 20mm are perfect. The 7x50 at 22mm get twisted down to about 20mm.

My experience tells me it is too much but can be managed.

 

[Mikbul]

Hi all

i’m considering a 7x42 and was wondering how ppl who own this find the eye relief? I believe its got 22mm eye relief. Just wondering if its too much?

I prefer to tuck the binoculars into my eye sockets and can do this comfortably with my EDG32’s and ELSV32’s. This also helps with fatigue for prolonged viewing.

Will i need to hold the binoculars a bit further out or are they still comfortable to view through? I appreciate that they are 6mm exit pupil but concerned about too much ER.

any thoughts / comments would be appreciated.

My MHG has too much for me so I turn each eye cup out three clicks and rest them in my eye sockets, very comfortable.

 

[Saxatilis]

Interesting thread. I wear multifocal glasses and own the Nikon EDG 7x42 since November 2020. I confirm, from day one I had to reduce the eye-relief which is excessive for my vision and my needs by turning the eye cups.

 

[osef]

I'm no expert but the 22 mm ER is not a problem for me unless/except to the extent it may contribute to the fact that careful adjustment of the eyecup setting and IPD is required to achieve best image without some blackouts . Not a big deal but does require a little more attention /experimentation than a number of others. But once properly set, the overall IQ is sublime for my taste and the most relaxed IMO.

I'll second this. (Or maybe "third" it, after Saxatilis's note.) I wear eyeglasses, and I still need to adjust the eyecups and the IPD to avoid blackouts. It takes a little fiddling, but once it's done, the image is easy and comfortable.

As an aside, I've been comparing the Nikon EDG 7x42 to my Swarovski 8x32 EL (Field Pro version). Strangely, the smaller Swaros appear to be brighter; maybe even too bright (!). Also, the Swaros have a larger AFOV and this leads to a more "immersive" experience. What's surprising to me is that I prefer the slightly dimmer and less-immersive view of the EDG 7x42 because it's a more relaxing view. The 7x lower power helps here too, of course. However, I can easily imagine others preferring the Swaros. They are both excellent.

 

[tenex]

i’m considering a 7x42 and was wondering how ppl who own this find the eye relief? I believe its got 22mm eye relief. Just wondering if its too much?

It all depends on eyecup depth (as well as anatomy) but you may have cause to worry. Swaro SLCs are entirely different bins, but the 8x56 has 23mm and the 10x56 19.5mm, while 8x42 has 18.5mm vs 16 for 10x. In both cases I need the 8x eyecups on my 10, which means I'd never be able to use the 8x. In general I'm leery of ER over 16mm, though in this case 19.5 does work thanks to availability of deeper eyecups. Manufacturers must target average anatomy... though I really don't see what's so hard about providing a couple extra mm extension to fit everyone.

Of course reports from EDG users would be best.

 

[safaridreaming]

Thanks all for the great feedback. Im typically a EL32 user but recently purchased the EDG8x32 and really enjoying them hence the temptation to add another EDG to the collection. Given the compact size I thought of getting the 7x or 8x42m…. Given some of the comments and my own concerns around comfort etc - and being in Australia so requiring to consider postage charges in (and out if I don’t get along the binos and need to sell) I’ve decided to stick to the more traditional 8x42 EDG and will wait until a suitable sample comes up for sale.

really appreciate everyones comments and insights to my question so thanks for taking the time to respond.

 

[Scott98]

FWIW, there is no problem with "too much" eye relief on the 7x42 EDG, they work exactly the same as the 10x42 EDG for me. I turn the eyecups to the fully extended position and they're perfect, no difference I can see between the two different models in terms of comfortable eye relief.

In fact, ease of eye placement is the #1 thing I like about the 7x42 EDG and the biggest reason they were my choice out of the 7x, 8x, and 10x42 EDG. The only bino I've tried that can match them for ease of eye placement would be the 10x56 SLC.

 

[Conndomat]

Farsighted glasses wearer here...

In the lowest rest level I had kidney beans on the EDG 7x42, the next rest level was much too high up, I had to use the EDG between the rest levels, suboptimal.

The same with the SLC 8x56, lowest level shading, but here the next level is closer so it fits.

Andreas

 

[Tringa45]

I wear multifocal glasses and own the Nikon EDG 7x42 since November 2020.

Not good. See Looksharp's comments on varifocals in post #6 here: Eyeglasses - a few unqualified remarks

John

 

[safaridreaming]

I seem to be particularly sensitive to eye placement and ease of view - must be my facial topography. I struggled with Zeiss SF’s and Swaro NL’s both of which were somewhat finicky. where i avoided blackouts, I couldn’t get a solid defined field stop, it was blurry and where i adjusted (both IPD and eyecups) to get a well defined field stop, i struggled with blackouts when i rolling my eyeballs around the FOV.

I’m not an expert enough to know what the root cause of all of this was and maybe ER doesn’t play a part in it, but i took a chance on the 8x32EDG simply because its been the one brand / bino I’ve never really tried and was really surprised at how comfortable the view was at first set, i almost fell into it. Hence the decision to explore more of the EDG line but again I’m just cautious that eye placement for me tends to be fussy…..

 

[Scott98]

I seem to be particularly sensitive to eye placement and ease of view - must be my facial topograph

I'm the same way. The 8x42 SF's are only useable for me with the eyecups extended all the way and unscrewed another 1.25 turns, which is super annoying.

And if your eyes fall in between the clickstops it's not good! I did some comparing when I had the 10x42 EDG and found them more tolerant on eye placement than the 8x42 SF's. The 42mm EDG are best for this IMO. Or at least much better than the SF's and NL's.

 

[Swedpat]

Long eye relief is good, and hardly ever can be too long. The problem is that the eyecups are not possible to extract enough. It's a design flaw and I find it really strange that even manufacturers of high grade optics have not tested this out properly with some models.

 

[hopster]

Long eye relief is good, and hardly ever can be too long. The problem is that the eyecups are not possible to extract enough. It's a design flaw and I find it really strange that even manufacturers of high grade optics have not tested this out properly with some models.

It's easy and cheap to add rubber eyecups that slip over the supplied eye cups if they don't quite come out far enough. I do this with my Zeiss VP 8x25 when I use it without glasses.

 

[Bentley03]

I'll second this. (Or maybe "third" it, after Saxatilis's note.) I wear eyeglasses, and I still need to adjust the eyecups and the IPD to avoid blackouts. It takes a little fiddling, but once it's done, the image is easy and comfortable.

As an aside, I've been comparing the Nikon EDG 7x42 to my Swarovski 8x32 EL (Field Pro version). Strangely, the smaller Swaros appear to be brighter; maybe even too bright (!). Also, the Swaros have a larger AFOV and this leads to a more "immersive" experience. What's surprising to me is that I prefer the slightly dimmer and less-immersive view of the EDG 7x42 because it's a more relaxing view. The 7x lower power helps here too, of course. However, I can easily imagine others preferring the Swaros. They are both excellent.

This is pretty much my own experience with these two binoculars. I own (and love) my EL 8x32, but I was never able to get truly comfortable with the 7x42 EDG. I own both 8x42 and 10x42 EDG and they work perfectly for me, probably my favourite binoculars in very bright/challenging daytime observing, which is where they excel, in my opinion.

 

[hopster]

I seem to be particularly sensitive to eye placement and ease of view - must be my facial topography. I struggled with Zeiss SF’s and Swaro NL’s both of which were somewhat finicky. where i avoided blackouts, I couldn’t get a solid defined field stop, it was blurry and where i adjusted (both IPD and eyecups) to get a well defined field stop, i struggled with blackouts when i rolling my eyeballs around the FOV.

I know what you mean, having the same issue with the Noctivid in 8x and it's driving me a bit mad because in all other ways I love it.

 

[Patudo]

I couldn’t get a solid defined field stop, it was blurry and where i adjusted (both IPD and eyecups) to get a well defined field stop, i struggled with blackouts when i rolling my eyeballs around the FOV.

Is it absolutely necessary to get that razor sharp field stop though? I don't with most of mine, and don't find it a problem. I'd much rather have no blackouts, especially as, like you, I look for things by looking around my FOV as much as possible (kinda like reading a book) rather than constantly moving my binoculars.